Traditional Italian at Bella Napoli

Walking into Bella Napoli in Brookside is like stepping into a little piece of Italy.  The scent of garlic hits me as I wander through the door.  The restaurant is split into three sections.  The door leads to a center room, the market stocked with all kinds of authentic Italian foods and the deli complete with premium meats and cheeses.

A few tables and chairs are set up between the deli and the market.  The smaller room on the left is the main dining area with wooden tables and chairs scattered around.  Old paintings hang on the beige walls. On the right, there’s an even smaller area set up as a coffee shop.  Each room is homely and comforting.

I’m seated in the market/deli.  My waitress comes quickly and I order suppli- which are basically fancier versions of breaded balls of risotto- for my appetizer.   They’re breaded and taste like macaroni and cheese with a clump of warm mozzarella in the middle. Somehow I manage to finish them both without feeling full.  Despite the over-the-top, fatty aspect of the dish, the suppli didn’t taste unhealthy.

I order gnocchetti sardi for my main meal, which consists of tomato sauce, onions and homemade sausage along with the pasta.   There isn’t anything wrong with this dish, though there isn’t anything outstanding either.  It’s not as great as I hoped it would be and I’m a little disappointed.  I think it’s because I don’t like the tanginess of the tomato sauce.

Although the gnocchetti doesn’t live up to my expectations, the homemade tiramisu does.  The bottom of it is soaked in coffee and it kind of tastes like a creamy chocolatey cake.   This is the first time I’ve had tiramisu, so I don’t really have anything to base it off of, but I can say that it was better than any cake, pie or pastry that I’ve had before. And I don’t even like coffee.

For an authentic Italian atmosphere at a reasonable price, I definitely recommend visiting Bella Napoli.